Help, too much varnish on part of wooden floorboards...

[leem2837]

I can't find this topic addressed elsewhere, so I assume I'm just the only idiot who's done this..

I did a huge amount of prep on my wooden floorboards to varnish them, and they looked great, but I've sanded and varnished two adjoining rooms and the hallway that joins them.

The problem is, I had - for various reasons - to varnish the three areas at different times. I varnished along the boards so that when I finished room 1 and the bit where it runs into the hall, I then started room 2 and it's bit of adjoining hall. Matching the colours initially was fine, but I think I used an extra coat on room 2 which now that it's all dried, is noticeably darker than room 1.

I could blend the two to some extent, but my ideal solution would be to lighten room 2 a bit. I'm guessing that my only option here is to entirely sand room 2 again, which my wife won't countenance. She likes the colour in both rooms (differences in the amount of natural light) but I'd like to get a more even colour.

Is there another option that will remove some of the varnish without requiring sanding the floor again?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I doubt that there is. Without knowing whether or not you were using varnish or some other form of lacquer is is difficult to know if there is an appropriate solvent you might be able to use. As to sanding, if the covering is cured sufficiently I'd consider either scraping (look for a Sandvik carbide scraper or similar) or heat gun and tri-hook scraper as both will make less dust, although the smell from the hot air gun can also be a bit overpowering